


Thirteen Years

by DreamingKate



Category: Glee
Genre: Kidnapping, M/M, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-07 10:58:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1896492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingKate/pseuds/DreamingKate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cooper spent all his free time handing out flyers</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Blaine was kidnapped when he was young. Cooper never gave up hope and looked for him for years, passing out flyers and working with the police. It seemed like a dead end until he gave a flyer to the owner of Hummel Auto and Lube and the owner recognized him as his son’s boyfriend.

Everyone tried to tell him that it wasn’t his fault but he knew it was.

He had been a stupid seventeen year old and was far more interested in what was under Linda Michael’s skirt than babysitting his four year old brother. 

The mall had been suggested by Linda as a date and he had turned around for no more than five seconds. It took only five seconds before he couldn’t find Blaine. Fifteen minutes later, the security team combed the mall. An hour later he was sobbing out his brother’s description to police officers.

The inhuman wail that came from his mother when she was informed that they couldn’t continue the search haunted Cooper for years. The search had moved from looking for a missing child to looking for a body and then even that seemed unlikely. 

If he had just paid attention, his brother might have turned five.

Guilt consumed Cooper. He could hardly sleep, hardly eat, and only started living again after his parents forced him into therapy. They mourned and left Blaine’s bedroom just the way it was but they began to move on. 

Cooper never did.

Most of his money went to investigating his brother’s kidnapping and every moment he could get off of work, he was looking. He paid for expensive age progression work on some of the photographs and made up posters. 

The stores and people he stopped to ask would look at him sadly and shake their heads.

_Oh, how sad._

_I’m terribly sorry dear._

_No child should ever go through that._

Lima, Ohio hadn’t seemed like much of a chance but he hadn’t tried it in a while. Cooper’s feet ached from walking up and down the streets and he juggled the posters as he stepped into Hummel’s Tires and Lube.

“Just a second!” A man called out from the back. 

“No problem,” Cooper glanced around at the signs and posters for the local high school football team and choir. He took a step closer to the team photo when a large man in coveralls and a baseball cap stepped out.

“Sorry about that,” he gave Cooper a warm smile. “How can I help you?”

“This is a little strange I know, but I was wondering if I could ask if I can leave some posters here with you?” Cooper shuffled the papers. “My brother went missing a few years ago and…”

“Of course,” the man, Burt judging by the name on his shirt. “That won’t be a problem.”

“Thank you! I know it’s kind of a long shot but I just want to try as many places as I can,” Cooper grinned, handing over a few posters. 

“Anything I can do to help,” Burt gave him another warm, sympathetic smile and took them. 

“Thanks again!” Cooper turned; ready to hurry over to the store next door.

“Wait,” Burt called out and Cooper spun around. “His name is Blaine?”

“Yeah,” the younger man nodded, trying to tramp down the feeling of hope that had started rising. 

“And he would be…sixteen, seventeen now?” Burt’s eyes were locked on the paper as Cooper nodded slowly. “I think I know him.”

It felt like his knees were going to give out and Cooper stared blankly. It had been almost thirteen years of nothing but now there was a chance, no matter how slight. 

“Seriously?” Cooper choked out and Burt pulled out his phone, flipping through the pictures until he held it up.

The young man grinning at the camera stopped Cooper’s heart. Those same hazel eyes had stared up at him as he begged for a treat. That same mouth had to always been wiped after eating ice cream. Those same curls always had managed to get tangled in something.

That was his brother.

“Oh my God,” his voice cracked and the papers fluttered to the ground. 

“He’s my son’s boyfriend,” Burt’s gaze lingered on his face as tears filled his eyes. “Do you need to sit down?”

“Where is he? We need to call the police,” Cooper managed to gasp out, still staring at the phone. 

“Okay, I’ll call and we’ll figure this out,” Burt said reassuringly, reaching for the phone attached to the wall. “Give me just a minute.”

While Burt spoke softly on the phone, Cooper flipped through a few pictures. Blaine had grown up into a handsome young man. His eyes and smile were so bright as he posed with the boy Cooper assumed was his boyfriend. He looked happy.

“The police are going to pick him up from school and they’re contacting your parents,” Burt knelt in front of him. 

“What about the people who took him?” Cooper whispered, panic seizing his chest. 

“He’s been living with my wife and I for a few weeks. His…parents and he weren’t getting along,” the slight pain in Burt’s eyes confirmed Cooper’s fears. 

Those people had hurt Blaine. 

Cooper honestly couldn’t be more grateful for Burt Hummel. He had closed down the shop and driven him to the police station, talking about Blaine the entire time. 

Blaine was in show choir.

Blaine had a beautiful singing voice.

Blaine liked playing video games with Burt’s stepson.

Blaine was looking into colleges.

Blaine wasn’t just this little boy that Cooper remembered. He wasn’t the boy that Cooper colored with anymore. 

“Excuse me?” A police officer glanced in and both Burt and Cooper jumped to their feet. “I wanted to let you know that we have confirmed that Blaine Anderson is in fact Blaine Kirkpatrick.”

Overwhelmed, Cooper swayed on his feet. His entire adult life had been dedicated to finding his brother and he had always thought that he was chasing a dream. The hope that he would ever find Blaine had dwindled down to nearly nothing. 

“Can I see him?” He breathed and the officer nodded with a smile. 

“Your parents are on the way but they said that he could come in,” the officer glanced behind him and Cooper’s heart picked up. “He’s upset and confused. He doesn’t know who you are. Just understand that he’s going through a lot.”

“Of course,” Cooper nodded and just tried to remember to breathe as two teenagers walked into the room.

One was Blaine’s boyfriend Kurt, he recognized him from the pictures. Blaine’s eyes were red rimmed and wide, locked on Cooper. For a moment, the brothers just stared at each other and Cooper had to fight the urge to pull him into his arms.

“Hi,” Blaine whispered.

“Hi,” Cooper’s voice was strangled. “You probably don’t remember me.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Blaine glanced around the room uncomfortably. 

“That’s fine,” Cooper gave him a shaky smile, heart shattering. “I understand completely. I’m…I’m your brother Cooper.”

“Nice to meet you I guess,” Blaine smiled, wrapping his arms around himself. 

“Yeah,” tears flooded Cooper’s eyes. “God…we missed you so, so much.”

Blaine stared into his eyes for a long moment before launching himself into Cooper’s arms. Cooper held him tightly and shook with sobs. 

“I used to always wish I had a different family,” Blaine whimpered, clinging to him. “After he…I always wished it.”

“I’m so sorry,” Cooper held onto him tightly. 

He had spent thirteen years looking for his brother and he had just been in a town two hours away. There was no way in hell that he was going to let him go. 


	2. Milk and Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by moviegeek09: May I prompt a continuation of 13 Yrs (which I LOVED) showing Blaine with his real family? Just how he adjusts and compares them to his kidnappers. Like maybe he ends up sick or hurt or something & sees how good they are with taking care of him and accepting him whereas the others did not. Something like that?
> 
> Prompt: You’ve got to write a sequel to Thirteen Years! It is so good, but I really want to know more about what happened to Blaine before and what happens after he meets Cooper.

As quietly as he could, Blaine crept down the stairs. 

The Kirkpatricks were amazing. They were everything he had wished for in a family when he curled up in his bed covered in bruises. He just wished they would stop staring at him like he was the four year old they had lost. 

His mother, he still didn’t feel comfortable calling her mom, almost always had bright tears in her eyes and his father stared at him like he was a ghost. They were clearly happy to have him back and he wanted to be with his family but it felt odd.

His room hadn’t been changed since he had been kidnapped and it was like a shrine to a child who had been taken. Stuffed animals were piled high in the corners and his old toys lined the shelves. His mother’s eyes had followed him sadly as he trailed his fingers over the old quilt covered in stars. 

“We’ll go get you new things soon, I promise. The bed’s a little small but-“

“It’s fine,” he gave him a smile. “No rush.”

She wanted her little boy back and didn’t know how to react to this young man in front of her. 

The bed was cramped and the ceiling was covered in glow in the dark stars but the worst part was that it didn’t feel like home. Were they just expecting him to come home and fit right in?

The wall next to the staircase was lined with family pictures and he couldn’t stand to look at them. This was his family, many of the pictures even had him as a child in them, but they looked like strangers. 

With a sigh, he pushed open the door to the kitchen and froze. 

“Oh, hey,” Cooper blinked at him, in the middle of sipping a glass of milk. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

“No,” Blaine shook his head. “I can go if you want?”

“Not at all,” Cooper poured him a glass of milk before pausing. “Do you even like milk? When you were a kid you could finish an entire gallon by yourself but…”

“I like it,” he gratefully accepted the cool glass and an offered oreo. 

“Good,” Cooper gave him a warm smile. “So…how are you?”

“Fine. The house is lovely and you have been so nice but…” Blaine trailed off awkwardly, staring down at his glass. 

“It’s not home,” Cooper offered and he nodded.

“I thought it would be just like falling back into place but it’s not. They keep expecting four year old me to be here and that person is gone,” he shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Cooper shook his head. “Believe me, I would have loved to watch you grow up. I would have loved to hear all about your first date…but I know I’ll hear about the moment you get engaged and the first time you sing on Broadway. Mom and dad have been mourning you for years and they need time to adjust to having you back.”

“They need to understand that parents are synonymous with pain to me,” Blaine whispered and Cooper’s eyes grew unbelievably sad. 

“They would never hurt you. None of us would,” Cooper said softly back. 

Blaine was quiet for a long time before taking a deep breath. “Do…do you think they care that I’m gay? Do you?”

“You’re my brother and I love you. I don’t care who you choose to love as long as they treat you right,” Cooper grinned. “And that’s what mom and dad want too.”

Blaine smiled brightly, tears brimming in his eyes. He allowed himself to be pulled into a tight hug and stood on his toes to rest his chin on Cooper’s shoulder. 

“Let’s catch up then. Let me tell you about when I met Kurt,” Blaine leaned against the counter as Cooper pushed the pack of oreos closer.


End file.
